The Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) said last week that Walton EMC Natural Gas has the lowest variable rate plan for residential customers of any of the Georgia marketers for the month of March, while ACN Energy has the highest.

The commission said it has published its March 2005 natural gas marketer pricing page on its website in order to give consumers a true “apples to apples” comparison. In addition, the GPSC listed total bill comparisons to give a “much better” idea of the differences between marketer rate plan offers.

For the month, Walton EMC Natural Gas’ variable rate is $1.14/therm, or $152.62 a month, while ACN Energy’s rate is $1.33/therm, or $177.58 a month. The chart shows that the monthly bill for a typical variable rate customer can vary greatly depending on the marketer chosen.

“Simply looking at the price per therm advertised by a marketer may not give an accurate comparison since some marketers bill certain charges separately while others include them in the per therm rate,” the GPSC said. “In addition, monthly customer service charges can vary from $3.95 to $15.95. For March prices, an average customer is defined as having a 1.29 DDDC factor [Dedicated Design Day Capacity, a charge that recovers costs associated with delivering gas to a home or business] and using 134 therms [in March] or 880 therms annually.”

Of the fixed rate plan marketers, Walton EMC Natural Gas had the lowest annual rate of $1.29/therm, while Infinite Energy had the highest annual rate of $1.51/therm.

To view the chart, visit www.psc.state.ga.us.

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